But after that comment circled around the Internet Namco Bandai got in contact with us, claiming that there was a ‘translation mistake’. Although we did note at the time that the interview’s translation wasn’t very good the sentence in question always seemed pretty unambiguous. But this is apparently what it should have been:

‘This fact is really sad to me and I am thinking about how to make everyone complete the game while maintaining the current difficulty and carefully send all gamers the messages behind it.’

According to Namco Bandai, ‘This revision has been made in order to inform Miyazaki-san's true intention and what has been originally posted had a mistake because of mistranslation.’

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Original Story: Dark Souls is a difficult game. So difficult, in fact, that it's turning some players away. This has caused series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki to think about possibly adding an easy mode.

"I personally want my games to be described as satisfying rather than difficult," Miyazaki said in an interview with Metro. "As a matter of fact, I am aiming at giving players sense of accomplishment in the use of difficulty.

"Having said that, however, it is true that Dark Souls is rather difficult and a number of people may hesitate to play. This fact is really sad to me and I am thinking about whether I should prepare another difficulty that everyone can complete or carefully send all gamers the messages behind our difficult games."

Miyazaki later said if the number of easy games is increasing, he thinks it's because difficulty is "not related to interesting and worthwhile game elements in many games among players."

It's sad that we're in a day and age where a game like Dark Souls is considered "too difficult" for most gamers. Dark Souls isn't a hard game for the most part. It just expects you to not play like a dimwitted meat head and think about what you're doing, rather than mindlessly charge forward.
But I suppose that's asking too much of the lowest common denominator in gaming these days.

Oh, and a second point of contention: I worked my ass off earning all the achievements for this game. Please refrain from cheapening my toil and trouble by allowing someone with half the desire to accomplish my goals without my ambition.

Most games that offer many difficulties have enemy ballancing issues. Like in Skyrim, if you ramped up the difficulty to make the dragons a challenge, then the bears can one-hit kill you out of nowhere. Dark Souls was good because it was challenging and fair, never felt cheated.

The beauty of having different difficulty levels is you get to choose which one you want to play on. All the people complaining can keep playing on the normal modes, the added easy mode would help bring more people to the game. Everyone is so elitist when it comes to games like this, why can't people be more open to change and willing to share with others who may not be as into things as them?

I figured this news would get a lot of passionate responses. How does the addition of an easy mode, despite the ability to play at the notoriously difficult level, actually affect the players experience? Is it a question of exclusivity? A sense of pride in completing the game at the only default level? How will Dark Souls be any different from most games that already offer different challenge modes? I'm sure there are hardcore players out there that pride themselves on completing every game they play at the most difficult level. I would also question if those experience were lessened by the option of an easy mode.

Most people who love Dark Souls will probably be pretty opposed to this. I am. Though, as long as the standard DS difficulty/experience we are accustomed to returns as the Normal difficulty, I can't be too upset.

It's not THAT difficult. It's just not a, "hold left trigger while running forward and shoot everything to win," game. Nor is it a, "mash on the X button 3,000 times while leveling up every five minutes to win," game. Dark Souls is more like the dream game from 'Enders Game.' Some thought required.

Have an easy mode, sure. If I can argue that Nintendo should have the option to turn off 'treat me like a kid' mode then I can support this. But only if there is a default difficulty on par with Demon's/Dark Souls. Both games aren't even that hard if you're careful and pay attention. The above-average difficulty is one of the things that makes those games great.

Dark Souls is, for the most part, only hard if you rush and make careless mistakes... mistakes we have all made our fair share of. But, in all honesty, Dark Souls is the most rewarding game that I have ever played, due mostly to the feeling I get after I beat a boss or a particularly difficult area; this feeling is what makes Dark Souls stand above other, easier RPGs (IMO). Basically, I don't mind an easy setting as long as the original difficulty remains for the hardcore players.

I say no easy mode. I grew up playing games like kings quest and the first nintendo. I would get stuck for days on a kings quest/space quest/police quest puzzle and feel so good when I figured it out. Just like in dark souls, I never felt so happy to ring a bell in my life!
Remeber when you had to learn how to get through a level and practice like mega man 1,2 etc. or when you wandered around in zelda 1 to figure out where to go? Didn't zelda 1 have a death counter?
For the first time I felt accomplishment in a game this generation (dark souls). Games now days seem to hand everything to you on a platter (at least the ones I have played). I mean, skyward sword had a bouncy thing that gave you tips via video.
This game isn't that hard, it just does not spoon feed you through with movie cut scences and hints galore. Don't mess with it.
A little work, frustration, and brain power can be fun in a game.